Secrets of a Noble Key Keeper

Meet a curious young man who guards the gates and secrets of his homeland. While steering trespassers away from his magical land, he finds himself increasingly intrigued by the outside world. Gavin longs to learn more about those living in mere ordinary circumstances, especially if it means befriending a raven-haired girl whose big brown eyes seem permanently etched in his memory. More

Meet a curious young man whose calling it is to guard the gates of his homeland. As key keeper of Dreamland, Gavin comes across many outsiders referred to by his people as dreamers. Through a variety of bizarre and creative antics, Gavin steers these roaming trespassers away from the borders of his magical world—a world where ogres bowl for their dinner and pirates sail the clouds to plunder diamonds from the night's sky and bubbleberries make a person burp out loud. It is a place where anything imaginable is commonplace. All the while, the young key keeper finds himself increasingly intrigued by stories of the outside world. Snooping about, he is captivated by a dreamer who peaks his interest in the ordinary.

I was born in Odgen, Utah in 1968 and spent the next couple of years growing up in my mother’s care (helped by her family) while my father served as an Army Sergeant in the Vietnam War. Luckily, he returned home safely, and I made the adjustment to having a permanent dad in the house. My brother was born shortly afterwards, and all four of us moved to Washington State where my parents discovered that not every inch of the so-called Evergreen State is actually green. In truth, a large portion mimics the desert—which is where we set down roots.

My parents completed their family with two additional daughters that resulted in three girls to one boy, a circumstance that made sibling rivalry unequal and often unfair. My brother ended out with his own room while I shared a room with my two sisters—an already-small area that was divided with masking tape into personal corners. You can imagine the childish fuss that was made when someone had to step across a dividing line to enter the only closet or to make a run for the bathroom!

I was very blessed to have a mother who was willing to enroll me in ballet, tap dance, gymnastics, girl scouts, piano lessons, as well as a short bout with the viola and the guitar. She faithfully drove me from school to lessons to home for years. Any artistic talent I have is owed to my parents. My dad sketched cartoon characters for me and my siblings when we were children, while my mom created beautiful oil paintings. Their examples inspired me to pursue art in both high school and college.

After growing up in a small, desert town, I graduated from the local high school with honors. From there, I worked my way through college at Eastern Washington University where I received two bachelor’s degrees: one, a BA in Liberal Studies and the other, a BAEd in Math/Natural Sciences Education. It wasn’t until I was older, married with three boys, that I developed an interest in writing. That in itself is a long, curious story which you can read about on my author blog (click here.) Since then, I have self-published ten books. My book quotes have been published in a number of places including the Oxford Philosophy Being Human Course Book, in a Revlon magazine ad campaign, and in four Chicken Soup for the Soul books―Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas in Canada, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Military Families, Chicken soup for the Soul: The Empowered Woman, Chicken soup for the Soul: Dreams and the Unexplainable.

Writing has become a sweet adventure. I write whenever and wherever opportunity presents itself, even during waits in line at the grocery store. I have learned to use bits of time wisely, knowing that small accomplishments add up quickly. I prefer to write in complete silence whenever possible; it seems my muses are more apt to visit me in a calm and quiet atmosphere. If you want a glimpse into my head, I am an Alice in Wonderland girl—curious, creative, observant, always pondering, always learning.

Reviews

Review by:
Graham Downs
on May 12, 2015 :
This book brought me right back to my childhood. It's a good old fashioned fairy tale, with big bad wolves, pirates and swashbuckling, bears, and little girls running around the forest with red riding hoods on.

It's a chapter book, but each chapter is reasonably short, and upon reflection, I think it would be a perfect story for parents of young kids to read to them at bedtime, or for slightly older kids to read themselves.

I had some extremely minor issues with it, and it didn't exactly hold my attention a hundred percent of the time, but for what it claims to be (A fairy tale), I does its job perfectly!